The 2012 national NHS staff survey results, published today, has named St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust staff as being amongst the most highly motivated and engaged staff in the country.

The survey results show that compared to most of the 142 other acute trusts in the country, staff at St George’s:

have more ability to contribute towards improvements at work;

have higher levels of motivation at work;

are more likely to recommend St George’s as a place to work or receive treatment.

More staff at St George’s believe that they are making a difference to patients than at almost every other trust in the country, and more staff are satisfied with the quality of work and patient care they are able to deliver.

Staff at St George’s are also more likely to report errors, near misses or incidents than at most other trusts. The lessons learned from these reports are a major factor in the trust’s excellent record of patient safety, with the trust being named amongst the safest in the country and having some of the lowest mortality rates in the country despite the highly complex nature of the services provided in the Dr Foster 2012 Hospital Guide.

Ros Given-Wilson, medical director, said:

“I am really pleased that staff are more likely to recommend St George’s as a place to work and receive treatment than nearly every other trust in the country.

“This staff survey demonstrates that the key to our strong clinical performance is a well engaged and highly motivated workforce that has the power to make the improvements they feel necessary at work.”

Miles Scott, chief executive, was very pleased with the results:

“These results are hugely encouraging in light of the Francis enquiry recommendations. Knowing that our staff are so highly engaged and motivated and would recommend St George’s to family and friends should fill all of our patients with a huge amount of confidence.”

Despite St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s strong performance in the NHS staff survey, the trust has identified areas where it feels improvements could be made to further improve the working lives of staff. St George’s staff report high levels of harassment and tend to work longer hours than staff at other trusts.

Wendy Brewer, director of human resources, explains that the trust is working closely with staff and unions to address these issues and bring them into line with the highest performing trusts:

“The NHS national staff survey is important as it not only lets us know where we are performing well, but perhaps most importantly tells us if there are areas where our staff need some more support.

“Over the coming weeks we will work closely with our staff, the unions and our partners to identify what we can do to make the improvements we need to whilst maintaining our very strong performance in areas where staff have said we are doing well.”

Notes to editors

The NHS staff survey is organised by the Care Quality Commission and the Department of Health. Surveys are sent to a random selection of staff at every NHS organisation in the country. Trust’s are provided with a breakdown of their survey results by the CQC which are benchmarked against other trusts. St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of 142 trusts that provide acute (hospital based) services so is benchmarked against these trusts.

For more information and for high resolution photography, please contact the Communications Unit on 020 8725 5151 or email: communications@stgeorges.nhs.uk. Outside working hours, please page us by calling 0844 822 2888, leaving a short message and contact details for pager SG548. High res photos available on request.

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